Where to stay in Sorrento

The practical base for the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Pompeii — lemon groves, a cliff-top old town and, crucially, a train line and ferries. Less dramatic than the coast road, and far easier to come and go from.

Sorrento sits on a cliff, the sea a lift ride below. Around Piazza Tasso and Corso Italia you walk to the station and, by stair or the paid lift from the Villa Comunale, to the boats at Marina Piccola. Marina Grande is the lower, older fishing harbour. Sant'Agnello, one train stop east, is quieter; Massa Lubrense, out on the point, is rural and needs a car.

It suits anyone who wants Pompeii, Capri and Positano from one bed. It suits beach purists poorly: there is almost no sand, only bathing platforms below the cliff and the rocks at Bagni della Regina Giovanna. The Circumvesuviana is slow, crowded and unavoidable; the SITA bus to Positano fills early in summer and the coast road jams, so leave the hire car behind.

Four nights covers the day trips: Pompeii by train, Capri by hydrofoil from Marina Piccola, Positano or Amalfi by boat from Easter to October and by bus otherwise. Take the earliest boat to Capri and a weekday for Positano; both are at their worst between eleven and four. Sorrento fits after Naples or Rome and before the coast.

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